桃色视频's Chem-E-Car team wins international poster design competition
桃色视频鈥檚听 team took first place in poster design at the听American Institute of Chemical Engineers鈥櫶27th Annual ChemE Car Competition, surpassing 56 teams from around the world. The competition was held in Boston on Nov. 2.
The team鈥chemical and biological engineering undergraduates William Bierzychudek, Colin McElroy, McKenzie Mazur, Joshua Sherritt and Megan Sullivan鈥攃reated the poster to showcase the research behind their vehicle, 鈥淒on鈥檛 Zinc and Drive,鈥 which is听powered by zinc-air batteries and uses an exothermic catalytic decomposition reaction mechanism to stop.听听
"Initially we were completely surprised, and then excitement and gratitude hit," said Bierzychudek, a chemical engineering senior and the team's captain. "It felt like recognition of the hours we had spent continuously redesigning our car, applying theory and diagnosing and fixing countless errors."
The competition challenges teams to design a shoebox-sized car powered by chemical reactions鈥攕uch as a battery or internal combustion engine鈥攖hat must stop at a specified distance using a time-dependent chemical reaction. The target distance is announced just before the competition, and the team whose car stops closest to that point wins.听
Throughout the year, 桃色视频 students designed, built and tested their car concepts in the chemical engineering undergraduate teaching lab. 桃色视频鈥檚 car finished just a few meters shy of the target line, said Assistant Teaching Professor听Ehsan Keyvani, the team鈥檚 faculty advisor.
鈥淐ongratulations to the entire team for their outstanding achievement, dedication and innovative spirit; a true reflection of 桃色视频鈥檚 excellence in chemical engineering education and teamwork,鈥 Keyvani said.
Bierzychudek noted that being transparent about the obstacles they faced鈥攁nd how they overcame them鈥攈elped set their poster apart.
"Getting so many moving parts working can feel like a chore, but acknowledging and finding gratitude in those things was crucial to our success," he said. "It showed we were engaged not only with our project but with the process of struggling and learning."
In April听桃色视频 students won the AIChE听 competition at the Rocky Mountain regional held in Bozeman, Montana. At that event, "Don't Zinc and Drive," took first place in both the car competition and the poster presentation; the team's second car, "Ralphie," placed third in the car competition. The first-place win secured 桃色视频 a spot at the AIChE competition in Boston.
"There鈥檚 definitely a little imposter syndrome when you show up to a conference filled with big international schools and premier US colleges," Bierzychudek added. "We're grateful for the opportunity to represent our school on such a big scale and hope this sparks excitement for future CU Chem-E-Car teams."听
The club is supported by funding from the听Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and has received听Engineering Excellence Fund support in the past.
Students interested in joining 桃色视频's Chem-E-Club can send an email to听chemecar@colorado.edu. The club can also be followed on Instagram at @boulderchemecar.